Title Page 14

  “You did?” Marin asked, clearly surprised.

  “I don’t know how to explain it. When we got you back to the house, Gabriel told me that you were a mate for one of us. My first instinct was to growl at him and claim you for myself, but then I settled down and tried to be reasonable. He said that when you woke up you would be allowed to choose who you wanted to be with, and that if you wanted to leave, you would be allowed to leave.”

  “I’m glad I didn’t leave, but it’s nice to hear that I would have had a choice.”

  He smiled at her. “I’m glad, too. I don’t think I would have made it without you. Just thinking of you with either of my brothers was enough to make me want to move out. I don’t think I could have handled seeing you with either of them.”

  Marin looked contemplative. “I have to be honest. When I first woke up and Gabriel was the only one around, I had wondered what it would be like to be with someone like him. He was so nice to me and quite honestly, I’ve never had a man treat me so well.”

  Cole wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to hear this. He started to say something, but he decided to let her finish. She apparently felt that she needed to tell him this… even if it was torturing him.

  “I know that you heard about my brief stay with Stefan when I was talking with Gabriel. There’s actually a lot I didn’t say. I’m not sure I can put it all into words, but I want you to know what happened.” She paused, not sure how to phrase it. “The time that I escaped and he tied me to the table… it didn’t stop there. He had three friends with him at the time. Not only did he rape me, but he let them rape me, too. When they were finished, they just left me there. I had managed to loosen the ropes a bit by struggling, not that it had done me any good. After I had regained my strength, I managed to wriggle out of the ropes. I found some clothes and managed to escape again.”

  Cole sat quietly, listening to her. He felt physically ill just thinking about what she had been through. He only hoped that there would come a point when she could forget about that horrible week, a time when it would just be a distant memory.

  Marin continued her story. “When I thought you were just a wolf, it was Gabriel that I thought of as my savior. I thought that I had finally found a good man, one that I could trust. I have to admit that I wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him or to have him make love to me.” She took a breath to steady her nerves. “But then I woke up and found myself kissing you that morning. At first, I was terrified, but then I looked into your eyes and regardless of what form you had taken I recognized you. Well, obviously I didn’t realize right away that you were the wolf, but I think some part of me recognized you as my other half. Later, when it hit me that you were the wolf, I realized that you had stayed by my side night and day.” She smiled at him. “I had thought that Gabriel was the hero, but it turned out that you were. You’re the one who truly saved me.”

  “Is that why you want to be with me? Because I’m the one who saved you?” Cole asked quietly, almost afraid of her answer. Would it matter to him? He wasn’t sure… but he realized that he needed to know why she was with him. He had already lost his heart to her and he hoped that maybe someday she would come to love him too.

  “No. I’m with you because…” Marin let the sentence trail off. She had been about to say that it was because she loved him, but what if he didn’t return her affections? Would she scare him? Would she ruin her chances at making their engagement the real thing?

  “Because?” Cole prompted.

  She took a deep breath to settle her nerves. “Because I love you.”

  Cole couldn’t hide his surprise. He hadn’t expected that to be her answer. Apparently she thought his expression meant he wasn’t pleased with her declaration because she asked, “You think it’s too soon, don’t you? For me to have fallen in love with you, I mean?”

  “No, I was just a little surprised is all. I’m not sure what I expected your answer to be, but that wasn’t it.”

  Well, he seemed to be taking it well, Marin thought. Then again, he hadn’t exactly professed his undying love for her, but hopefully that would come in time. Maybe he at least felt something for her other than animal magnetism.

  “Cole, do you care for me? Even a little?”

  His expression softened. “I care for you more than a little. I love you.”

  “You do?” she asked, her eyes full of surprise and wonder.

  He grinned at her. “Yeah, I do. I had wanted to tell you last night, but I thought it was too soon. I didn’t want to frighten you away.”

  “You could never frighten me away, no matter what you said or did. I’ll always love you. I know we’ve only known each other a few days, but I know that without you my life would be incomplete.”

  Cole leaned down and kissed her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Marin pulled him closer. Ending the kiss, Cole looked into her eyes.

  “Marin, will you marry me? I want us to have a real engagement.”

  Smiling at him, she answered, “I would love nothing more than to be your wife. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  Cole couldn’t believe how lucky he was. “Think we should shower and get dressed? I’m sure Gabriel is up and we can share the good news.”

  Marin gave him a naughty look. “Together?”

  Pretending to misunderstand her question, he said, “Well, of course we’ll tell him together. I wasn’t going to make you stay up here.”

  Marin playfully smacked him in the arm. “You know that isn’t what I meant!”

  Cole chuckled at her. “If you want to shower with me, I certainly won’t stop you.”

  Marin jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Cole decided to give her a few minutes so he stretched and thought about their future. While he loved his brothers and didn’t mind being nearby, he wanted Marin to himself. Once this thing with Stefan was behind them, he’d talk to Marin about buying their own house.

  Stretching, he climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom. He could hear the shower running as he turned the knob. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Marin standing naked under the spray of the shower. It was the first time he had ever enjoyed having a shower that was surrounded by glass. He wasn’t sure what Marin was expecting to happen, but he hoped that he could hold himself together enough not to take her against the shower wall. He wanted their first time together to be in his nice big bed, preferably when his brothers weren’t at home.

  After making sure they had two clean towels handy, he opened the shower door. Marin had her eyes closed and was letting the water run through her hair and down her back. Cole took a minute to just enjoy the view.

  “Mind if I join you?” he asked, as he stepped into the shower.

  Marin smiled at him. “I was wondering what was taking you so long.”

  “I’ve actually been in here a few minutes.”

  “Oh? What were up to then?”

  Cole grinned at her. “I was enjoying the wonderful sight of you in the shower… well, that and getting some towels out for us.”

  Marin pressed her body against his and brought his head down for a kiss. It was the first time that she had all of him at her mercy. She ran her fingers through his hair and down his back, pulling him closer to her. She loved the feel of her skin against his.

  Cole pulled back before things got too carried away. “Marin, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think we should wait.”

  “Wait for what?”

  “I want our first time together to be in the bed; preferably when we have the house to ourselves.”

  Marin eyed him as if he were a bug under a microscope. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy that he was trying to make their first time together special, or if she should be upset that he didn’t want her right here and now. Deciding to go with the first option, she sighed.

  “You’re right. Doesn’t mean I have to like it though,” she mumbled.

  Cole smiled at her. “If it’s any consolation, this isn’t exactly
easy for me.”

  “Well, that does make it a little better.” She smiled at him. “Do I still get to wash you?”

  “Uh… if that’s what you want.” His mouth suddenly went dry at the thought of her hands gliding over his skin, washing every inch of him.

  Marin smiled at him. Oh it’s what she wanted all right! If she couldn’t have him, the least she could do is make sure he thought about her all day. Okay, if she was completely honest with herself, she just couldn’t wait to get her hands on him.

  Grabbing the soap, she lathered up her hands and started soaping him down. Starting with his neck, she gently rubbed the soap into his skin. Her hands glided over his firm shoulders and down his thick, muscular arms. She lathered her hands again before reaching for his hard, sculpted chest and abs. His chest was smooth and tan, making her skin look like snow next to his. Just feeling his hot skin under her hands was enough to make her want him. Before she could continue her exploration, there was a knock on the bathroom door.

  “What is it,” Cole yelled, both relieved and perturbed at the same time. He was fighting an inner war. While he didn’t want to get too carried away right now, he also didn’t want her to stop.

  On the other side of the door, Gabriel was trying not laugh at the frustration he could hear in his brother’s voice. “Are y’all about done in there? I need to talk to you.”

  Cole inwardly groaned. His brother had horrible timing. “Can’t it wait?”

  “No. The hospital just called with an update. I wanted to sit down with you and Marin and discuss some stuff that needs to be taken care of today.”

  Cole sighed. “Okay. We’ll be out in a minute.”

  Looking down at Marin, he gave her a grin. “It looks like we’ll have to continue this another time.”

  She smiled back at him. “You can count on it. You can go ahead and finish washing. I’ll finish up in here while you’re getting dressed and meet you downstairs in the kitchen.”

  He bent down and quickly brushed a kiss across her lips. “Swap places with me and I’ll get out of here.”

  Marin scooted around Cole and let him stand under the water. He quickly finished washing and shampooed his hair. Once he was rinsed, he climbed out of the shower and started toweling off. Marin closed the shower door and started washing her hair. By the time she was finished with her shower, Cole had already walked downstairs.

  She took her time getting the tangles out of her hair and put on a little make-up. Walking into the bedroom, she grabbed the first outfit she saw and got dressed. Deciding to let her hair dry naturally to save time, she headed downstairs. At the bottom of the staircase, she could hear Cole and Gabriel talking in the kitchen.

  When she walked into the brightly lit kitchen, Cole and Gabriel both stopped talking and looked up. They were seated across from each other at the table, each with a coffee cup in front of them. She walked over to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of orange juice before joining them.

  “What did I miss?” she asked Gabriel.

  “Not much. I was just telling Cole that Michael may get to come home either this afternoon or tomorrow morning.”

  Marin smiled. “That’s great news!”

  Gabriel nodded. “Yes it is, but I’ll need to be at the hospital most of the day in case they decide to release him today.”

  “Is there anything Cole and I can do to help? Or do you want us to come with you?”

  He smiled at her. “You’re getting ahead of me. I was hoping the two of you would do the grocery shopping since it was never done yesterday. I imagine that Michael will need some first aid supplies for his sutures as well.”

  Cole had finished his coffee and decided to join the conversation. “We should be able to get everything we need at Wal-Mart or that new Super Target. It makes more sense to just go to one place instead of two.”

  Gabriel nodded. “I found the grocery money in the kitchen drawer this morning so you can use that for the food. I’m not sure if there’s enough cash in there to cover the other stuff or not.”

  “Don’t worry about it. If we don’t have enough, I can cover the rest. Just go sit with Michael and bring him home if they’ll let you.”

  Gabriel stood up and took his cup to the sink. “I think I’ll go ahead and drive over to the hospital. I’m going to take Michael’s car. I was going to borrow your truck, but you might need the room for the groceries.”

  “If you want to drive the truck, I’m sure we can get everything in the Corvette.”

  Gabriel shook his head. “No, you go ahead and use the truck. Besides, I don’t get a chance to drive Michael’s car very often. You know how picky he is about his ‘baby’.”

  Cole smiled. “True. Okay, well enjoy the drive to the hospital. Just don’t enjoy it enough that you get a speeding ticket.”

  Gabriel laughed and headed for the door. After he heard the front door close, Cole got up and took his cup to the sink. He was glad that his twin was doing well enough to come home. It had shaken him to see Michael in such bad shape. Turning around, he leaned against the counter and watched Marin. She was

  slowly sipping on her juice and looking out the kitchen window. She was so beautiful that she took his breath away.

  “Do you want some breakfast before we go grocery shopping? I’m sure I could scrounge up something,” he told her.

  Shaken from her reverie, Marin looked over at him. “No, I’m okay.”

  Her stomach chose that moment to betray her and grumble. Cole laughed.

  “So I hear.” Smiling at her, he said, “Why don’t we swing through a Starbucks drive-thru window and grab some coffee and a muffin.”

  “Make it a frappuccino and you have yourself a deal!”

  “A frappuccino it is then. Grab your purse and we’ll head out.”

  Marin put her glass in the sink and went to get her purse. She could get used to mornings like this one. First, she had gotten to wake up next to the man she loved. Then she had gotten to shower with him, even if that didn’t go as far as she had hoped, she thought, smiling to herself. Now they were doing more couple type stuff… getting some breakfast and going grocery shopping. All of this was new to her and she loved every minute of it!

  After she had her purse, she met Cole at the front door. Making sure the house was secure, he ushered her to the truck and opened the door for her. As she settled into the seat, he leaned in for a quick kiss before closing the door.

  Cole slid into the driver’s seat, buckled his seat belt, and started up the truck. As he carefully backed out of the driveway, he nodded to the on-duty officer that was watching the house. It was nice to see that the cops hadn’t abandoned their post. Hopefully they would be enough of a deterrent to keep Stefan away.

  The drive to Wal-Mart was quiet. They were both lost in their own thoughts. They had stopped at Starbucks briefly, and had eaten their muffins and drank their drinks in the car. As they pulled into the Wal- Mart parking lot, Cole remembered why he hated going there to shop. The only empty parking space looked like it was a mile from the door. This was definitely not the place to shop on the weekends, especially in a small town.

  Making short work of their shopping list, they managed to get in and out of the store in less than hour. For Cole, that was a record. It usually took him closer to two hours to find everything he needed, wade through a long check-out line, and then remember where he had parked. Having Marin with him had made the time fly.

  As they were loading the sacks into the backseat of the truck, Cole heard his name from an aisle or two over. Looking up, he saw Kari heading his way. Swearing under his breath, he glanced over at Marin.

  “Brace yourself,” he warned her.

  She gave him a puzzled look before noting the Barbie-like blonde walking their way. “Who’s that?”

  “That would be Kari. I knew my luck couldn’t hold out forever.” He had a disgusted look on his face. “We were bound to run into her sooner or later. After all, Ashton Grove isn’t exac
tly a big city with hundreds of thousands of people.”

  Marin had just finished putting her sacks in the truck and had closed the door when Kari sauntered over to Cole. Marin’s hands twitched with the urge to smack the woman.

  Putting her hand on his arm, Kari leaned in close to him. “Have you missed me Cole? I thought about you every day while I was gone.”

  Trying to untangle himself from the piranha, he said, “Hi, Kari. Did you have a nice vacation?”

  Kari pouted. “It would have been better if you had been with me.”

  Wanting desperately to run away, Cole looked around for Marin. “Kari, I’ve told you before that I’m not interested in you that way.” Why couldn’t the blasted woman take a hint?

  “But Cole, we’d be so good together! You know we would.”

  Marin decided she’d heard enough. Marching around the front of the truck, she walked up to Cole and put her arm through his. “Who’s your friend, honey?”

  Smiling down at her gratefully, Cole said, “This is Kari. She’s a friend of Cassie’s.”

  Kari narrowed her eyes at the woman that was hanging on Cole’s arm. What the hell was going on? He hadn’t seriously dated anyone since their trip to Whispering Lake, not since Cassie had chosen Matt over him. What had he been up to while she was gone?

  Marin smiled at Kari. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Kari sneered at her. “I’d say the same, but you haven’t introduced yourself yet.”

  Marin giggled. “Sorry about that! I’m Marin. Cole’s fiancé.”

  Kari sucked in a breath. Cole had a fiancé? “Must have been a quick engagement.” Kari looked pointedly at Marin’s stomach, figuring that Cole must have gotten the woman pregnant to ask her to marry him so soon. Why else would he have chosen the mousy woman over her?

  Marin didn’t miss the look. Neither did Cole if the muscles she felt flexing under her hand were any indication. She batted her eyes at Cole and smiled up at him. “Well, what can I say… it was love at first sight.”